Israel is put 'on notice' as it may be placed on the UN's blacklist over sex violence claims
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has cited 'grave concern' over multiple allegations that Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to degrading treatment in prisons, a detention facility and a military base.
It comes as Hamas was added to the list of shame for the first time last night – marking formal acknowledgment for its crimes on October 7, 2023 and to the hostages since that attack.
Israel was not listed on the 2025 annual report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence despite the warning.
Guterres wrote to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Monday citing concern over his country's refusal to grant UN inspectors access to areas where allegations have been made.
The Secretary General said Israel must take steps to avoid being blacklisted including issuing directives against sexual violence.
Allegations cited by the UN include accounts of rape of male Palestinian detainees.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
13 minutes ago
- Times
The $25m pink diamond scam: luxury cars and fake buyers
Dubai police have arrested a gang of criminals who posed as wealthy clients to steal a rare pink diamond worth $25 million from a jeweller. The three men had tracked the import of the diamond from Europe to Dubai, renting luxury cars and meeting the jeweller in hotels while posing as intermediaries for a wealthy buyer. As part of their ruse, the gang hired a diamond expert to examine the gem, in an effort to convince the jeweller of their seriousness. They lured him to a villa in Dubai to meet the supposed client, and stole the stone on his arrival. Police said the group planned to smuggle the gemstone to an Asian country in a small refrigerator. The pink diamond, which Dubai police said was incredibly rare, has been retrieved. CCTV images show the suspects entering the jeweller's premises CCTV shows one of the men at the jewellery shop before the planned theft In a statement, police said: 'As soon as the merchant reported the theft, a specialised task force was formed to identify and locate the three suspects, who initially lived together but separated after the heist and moved to different locations. Dubai police teams raided these locations simultaneously, apprehended the suspects, and recovered the diamond before it could leave the country.' According to officials, the 21.5-carat intense pink gem 'boasts exceptional clarity, symmetry, and polish, with an Excellent rating. Its extraordinary value and rarity made it a prime target, prompting the gang's elaborate efforts over an extended period.' Reports suggest the diamond is so rare, there is a '0.01 per cent' chance of finding another like it. Police entering the home of one of the suspects. The men were arrested at separate locations Such crimes are relatively uncommon in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates that attracts millions of tourists each year with its glitzy nightlife and beaches. The country prides itself on being one of the world's safest, combining a laissez-faire approach to expatriates with strict laws on theft and drug use. Pink diamonds were historically mined in Australia's Argyle mine, which produced about 90 per cent of the world's supply before its closure in 2020. This is not the first time the scarcity of pink diamonds has tempted thieves. In the 1980s, a criminal network smuggled tens of millions of dollars worth of pink diamonds from the Argyle mine over five years, in what came to be known as the Pink Diamond Heist. Many of them have never been recovered.
Sky News
13 minutes ago
- Sky News
Hamas 'agrees to ceasefire-hostage deal' with Israel, senior official says
Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire-hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior official. Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been holding talks with Hamas in their latest effort to broker a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza. The Hamas official did not provide further details of the agreement or what had been accepted. Hamas has responded positively to such deals in the past, while proposing amendments which have proved unacceptable to Israel. There has been no word from Israel about the proposed ceasefire. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators had been "exerting extensive efforts" to revive a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting cessation of violence.
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Netanyahu criticises protests in Israel against his handling of Gaza war
Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised massive street protests against his handling of the Gaza war, and failure to secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages, suggesting demonstrators were giving comfort to Hamas's position in negotiations. The Israeli prime minister made his comments against the backdrop of the largest protests in almost two years of war, with estimates that upwards of 400,000 people joined marches across Israel on Sunday. 'The people who are calling today for the war's end without Hamas's defeat are not only toughening Hamas's stance and distancing our hostages' release, they are also ensuring that the atrocities of October 7 will recur time and again, and that our sons and daughters will have to fight time and again in an endless war. 'Therefore, in order to advance our hostages' release and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, we have to finish the job and defeat Hamas,' said Netanyahu in a statement. The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that more than 62,000 Palestinians had been killed in the 22-month war in Gaza. At least 60 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing to to 62,004 the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war that started on 7 October 2023. A further 156,230 had been wounded, the ministry said. While the day of protest was called by supporters of Israeli hostage families, the scale of the demonstrations suggests increasingly sharp divisions in Israeli society over a conflict that has yet to deliver the return of hostages at a mounting economic, diplomatic and social cost for the country. With 50 hostages still held in Gaza – of whom about 20 are believed still to be alive – some of those attending the march carried signs referencing the death of the dual US-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed by his captors last October along with five other hostages as Israeli troops approached where they were being held. Placards repeated a sentiment expressed by Goldberg-Polin's father at his son's funeral – 'may your memory be a revolution' – adapting the familiar Jewish expression of condolence 'may your memory be a blessing'. Responding to Netanyahu's remarks, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum lambasted the Israeli prime minister, saying: 'They have been languishing in Gaza for 22 months, on your watch.' Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, was also fiercely criticised by the Israeli opposition leader, Yair Golan, as a man who 'lies as he breathes'. He said: 'The man who time and again refused to eliminate Hamas's leaders before October 7, who funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars from Qatar to finance the tunnels and weapons that threaten our hostages. 'This is the same Netanyahu who strengthened Hamas back then, and it is he who is strengthening Hamas now as well. Netanyahu doesn't know how to win and doesn't want to free the hostages. He needs an eternal war in order to cling to his seat and to escape a commission of inquiry [into the 7 October Hamas attack that triggered the war]. 'Israel will be liberated from Hamas only once we are liberated from the government of Netanyahu, and [his far-right allies Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben-Gvir.' The protests follow the decision by the Israeli cabinet earlier this month to launch a new military operation in Gaza City despite warnings by security officials it would put the lives of the remaining hostages in peril. On Monday, Netanyahu appeared to receive the public support of the US president for his strategy. Donald Trump wrote on social media: 'We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.' Amid the threat of an imminent Israeli ground offensive, thousands of Palestinians are leaving their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and south of the shattered territory. Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home, where tens of thousands of Israelis held some of the largest protests seen since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining hostages. The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts in what a source familiar with the talks with Hamas militants in Cairo said could be 'the last-ditch attempt'. Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas's last big urban bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75% of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.
